England players bugged by swarms of flies before World Cup 2018 opener against Tunisia

England players were forced to spray themselves with insect repellent on the Volgograd Arena pitch just minutes before kicking off their World Cup campaign against Tunisia.

Raheem Sterling, Jesse Lingard and Harry Maguire could be seen swatting flies from their faces as they attempted to warm-up, with Lingard even digging one out of his ear.

The players eventually were handed insect repellent to try to deal with the swarms of flies, with Sterling applying it particularly liberally.

Following a couple of reconnaissance visits to Volgograd, the FA were aware of the potential problems with flies and brought ‘Jungle Formula’ repellent with them

The flies had already caused chaos for broadcasters the night before the game, with Sky television cancelling planned live broadcasts from England’s team hotel because their reporter was being attacked.

Last week, the city of Volgograd, which is in the south east of Russia, deployed helicopters to spray nearby marshland with pesticides to try to keep the flies down to a minimum.

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